As you can see, all of the dead space has been reanimated by a complex form of necromancy to become undead space!! I like it better this way. Just don't walk through the living room with a crucifix or a ceremonial skull ;).
Sunday, December 31, 2006
The new living room lives!!
We finished reorganizing the living room. Overall it was quite a move that took us two days counting all the cleaning and clutter reduction. :) Here is a spiffy diagram I made to show the difference in dead space reduction!!
As you can see, all of the dead space has been reanimated by a complex form of necromancy to become undead space!! I like it better this way. Just don't walk through the living room with a crucifix or a ceremonial skull ;).
As you can see, all of the dead space has been reanimated by a complex form of necromancy to become undead space!! I like it better this way. Just don't walk through the living room with a crucifix or a ceremonial skull ;).
Friday, December 29, 2006
Holy lots of stuff!!
Ok, its been a while. Lets catch up....
Around November 20th Tiff and I went to Texas for Travis' boot camp graduation. We were scheduled to fly out of Syracuse at 6:30pm on Wednesday but thanks to inclement weather in Cleavland (our layover destination) we ended up getting delayed until about 7:00 pm. Thanks to the delay we were actually scheduled to miss our connecting flight to Austin by over an hour but, luckily for us, the weather in Cleavland delayed that flight as well :) We ended up getting there JUST in time to get on the flight to Austin. We were rushed from one gate right to the other and right back on a place for a 2.5 hour flight. We then drove from Austin to San Antonio in our rental vehicle and arrived at Lackland air force base at about 2:30 am.
Travis' graduation was cool and everyone was very happy to see him for the first time in months. They had two or three different events for families and such. We spent most of our time walking around the base and attending his graduation events. I took lots of pictures and in due time I'll even post some of them!!
About a month ago we got a Nintendo Wii. I didn't plan on getting one but then I played one at Tom's house on Thanksgiving!! After 5 minutes I was hooked! It lives up to the hype and provides a genuinely different, fun and energetic gaming experience that you will not soon forget. Everyone we've shown our Wii to since we've gotten it has been absolutely taken up with it. In fact, my family has already started saving for it, I brought it home for Christmas so I could show everyone!! Tiff's family couldn't get enough of it either. We were up until 5am playing the thing on the 22nd. I think they will eventually buy one.
Christmas has come and gone. It was very nice to see everyone. We had a very busy but oddly a relatively argument free and enjoyable time :-D Tiff made lots of food and spent a great deal of time planning a party and cooking and cleaning. But I think she managed to find some time to enjoy herself in there. Santa was good to us again this year. He provided us with some new computer chairs so we don't have to sit in kitchen chairs at our computers anymore. I got a wall mount corner shelf unit (and a book light) so I have a place to put my book that I like to read at night. I also got a new sweater and a tin of those yummy butter cookies. Tiff got some coffees, teas, a Friends trivia DVD game and the Let's Make a Deal DVD game. Tom was good to us ;) I got the second Wii Nunchuck controller I was looking for and Tiff got a bottle of really expensive Bio-Silk.... It's some crazy hair care product. We both got other miscellaneous things but those are the highlights. We got Zach an MP3 player for xmas/birthday. I think he likes it. Travis got a very well put together photo album that Tiff spent forever on. It has pictures in it from the summer before his high school graduation and his experiences in boot camp and graduation. Most of the pictures were *expertly* taken by a skilled photographer using a very nice camera ;) hehehe... Ok ok, I know I'm not that worthy of praise!
Soo... that catches us up to the current time! Only a few more interesting things to note. One, Tom was unfortunate enough to get a pink slip for xmas from his employer. Apparently they wanted to hire someone for his position that could move up to management. I'm assuming Tom is not qualified because his degree is in Graphic Arts..... and we all know how hard the business majors works in college... ahem..... I think maybe his work ethic is simply too high for a management position... keep in mind.. this IS a government job! So anyways, he is looking for a job anywhere he can find one. He is actually following up a possible job somewhere in our area :)
Tera got her splint off yesterday!! She has this odd infection underneath it and a raw bloody spot where it was digging into her leg for so long. We have pills to feed her to clean up the infection so hopefully she'll soon be fully recovered.
Finally, last night we decided to fully rearrange the living room. I'll post pictures and maybe (if I don't get too lazy...... yea don't expect anything) even a floor plan showing the changes. We now have a lot more space in the living room and we increased the distance from the Wii to the TV from about 3-4 feet to about 7-8 feet. This will make for a much more Wii-markable experience!
Ok, now that I've caught up I need to go finish cleaning our newly laid out living room and finish being sick... Tiff and I BOTH got sick for Christmas. We're, hopefully, on the upswing now though.
Around November 20th Tiff and I went to Texas for Travis' boot camp graduation. We were scheduled to fly out of Syracuse at 6:30pm on Wednesday but thanks to inclement weather in Cleavland (our layover destination) we ended up getting delayed until about 7:00 pm. Thanks to the delay we were actually scheduled to miss our connecting flight to Austin by over an hour but, luckily for us, the weather in Cleavland delayed that flight as well :) We ended up getting there JUST in time to get on the flight to Austin. We were rushed from one gate right to the other and right back on a place for a 2.5 hour flight. We then drove from Austin to San Antonio in our rental vehicle and arrived at Lackland air force base at about 2:30 am.
Travis' graduation was cool and everyone was very happy to see him for the first time in months. They had two or three different events for families and such. We spent most of our time walking around the base and attending his graduation events. I took lots of pictures and in due time I'll even post some of them!!
About a month ago we got a Nintendo Wii. I didn't plan on getting one but then I played one at Tom's house on Thanksgiving!! After 5 minutes I was hooked! It lives up to the hype and provides a genuinely different, fun and energetic gaming experience that you will not soon forget. Everyone we've shown our Wii to since we've gotten it has been absolutely taken up with it. In fact, my family has already started saving for it, I brought it home for Christmas so I could show everyone!! Tiff's family couldn't get enough of it either. We were up until 5am playing the thing on the 22nd. I think they will eventually buy one.
Christmas has come and gone. It was very nice to see everyone. We had a very busy but oddly a relatively argument free and enjoyable time :-D Tiff made lots of food and spent a great deal of time planning a party and cooking and cleaning. But I think she managed to find some time to enjoy herself in there. Santa was good to us again this year. He provided us with some new computer chairs so we don't have to sit in kitchen chairs at our computers anymore. I got a wall mount corner shelf unit (and a book light) so I have a place to put my book that I like to read at night. I also got a new sweater and a tin of those yummy butter cookies. Tiff got some coffees, teas, a Friends trivia DVD game and the Let's Make a Deal DVD game. Tom was good to us ;) I got the second Wii Nunchuck controller I was looking for and Tiff got a bottle of really expensive Bio-Silk.... It's some crazy hair care product. We both got other miscellaneous things but those are the highlights. We got Zach an MP3 player for xmas/birthday. I think he likes it. Travis got a very well put together photo album that Tiff spent forever on. It has pictures in it from the summer before his high school graduation and his experiences in boot camp and graduation. Most of the pictures were *expertly* taken by a skilled photographer using a very nice camera ;) hehehe... Ok ok, I know I'm not that worthy of praise!
Soo... that catches us up to the current time! Only a few more interesting things to note. One, Tom was unfortunate enough to get a pink slip for xmas from his employer. Apparently they wanted to hire someone for his position that could move up to management. I'm assuming Tom is not qualified because his degree is in Graphic Arts..... and we all know how hard the business majors works in college... ahem..... I think maybe his work ethic is simply too high for a management position... keep in mind.. this IS a government job! So anyways, he is looking for a job anywhere he can find one. He is actually following up a possible job somewhere in our area :)
Tera got her splint off yesterday!! She has this odd infection underneath it and a raw bloody spot where it was digging into her leg for so long. We have pills to feed her to clean up the infection so hopefully she'll soon be fully recovered.
Finally, last night we decided to fully rearrange the living room. I'll post pictures and maybe (if I don't get too lazy...... yea don't expect anything) even a floor plan showing the changes. We now have a lot more space in the living room and we increased the distance from the Wii to the TV from about 3-4 feet to about 7-8 feet. This will make for a much more Wii-markable experience!
Ok, now that I've caught up I need to go finish cleaning our newly laid out living room and finish being sick... Tiff and I BOTH got sick for Christmas. We're, hopefully, on the upswing now though.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Life is busy
Its been a while since I've posted :) Since the last time... I've been to Texas, been home for thanksgiving and I've decided to buy a Nintendo Wii. More later ;) Tonight I'm going out for a fairly expensive diner courtesy of Big Blue! :-D
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Binghamton Walk
Tom Tiff and I went on a small photo shoot in Binghamton. Not the best of photos but we did manage to snap a few good shots. Here are the results :)
In other news, Tiff and I will be heading to Texas Wednesday. We'll be there for 4 days so I'm SURE I'll have a gaint gallery to post after we get back!!
In other news, Tiff and I will be heading to Texas Wednesday. We'll be there for 4 days so I'm SURE I'll have a gaint gallery to post after we get back!!
Monday, November 06, 2006
Bibble Pro Review
.....WOW!! That's all I have to say about this photo raw conversion software! It is totally amazing! Its noise reduction feature renders a raw picture taken at ISO 800 on my Pentax DS and makes it look more like an ISO 200 shot!
Here is my original ISO 800 shot
And here is the Bibble processed version with noise reduction, and sharpening filters added.
You'll have to click on the images and open them in new windows to really see the difference. Pay particular attention to the binders towards the right side, the video cassette, and the tux I am wearing in the prom picture sitting on the shelf.
Consider this my recommendation for Bibble Pro!! :) I think I'll be purchasing a Linux license right after my two week demo expires.
Here is my original ISO 800 shot
And here is the Bibble processed version with noise reduction, and sharpening filters added.
You'll have to click on the images and open them in new windows to really see the difference. Pay particular attention to the binders towards the right side, the video cassette, and the tux I am wearing in the prom picture sitting on the shelf.
Consider this my recommendation for Bibble Pro!! :) I think I'll be purchasing a Linux license right after my two week demo expires.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
NYC - Photo Plus 2006
The Photo Plus expo was decently cool this year :)
I got a chance to play with the Pentax K10D and I gotta say it was pretty cool. The autofocus was insanely fast, especially when compared to my DS. It seems to take nice pictures and they had some demo prints that showed how accurate the auto-color balance and image processing was. They also had a set that showed a very crisp low-light exposure and claimed that it was due to the anti-shake technology. I know enough not to read too deeply into any company's marketing ploys which is why I'll wait for detailed reviews to surface before getting too excited.
Another interesting find... Bibble Pro, A Raw conversion software package that seems really slick and has some pretty cool noise reduction and dynamic range recoverability features. The presenter was touting that one could save many otherwise busted shots with these two features. I am skeptical, as usual, but I was very intrigued and will be trying this software out. They have a free fully functioning (for two weeks) demo.. and best of all... IT RUNS ON LINUX!!!!!!!! :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) (As well as windows and Mac OS X).
There were lots of other software companies, I was not too interested in them. Lots of companies that do prints over the internet and lots of people trying to sell massive printers that look more like plotters.
After the expo we walked from the Javits Center to central park. We walked around central park and took pictures and then walked to 60th and 5th which is where our bus was picking us up. We ate at some deli around there for lunch/dinner. Tiff had a #205, ham, cheese and sun dried tomatoes on 7-grain bread. I has a #208, a BLT/Turkey sandwich with herb mayo on 7-grain bread.
After dinner we still had about an hour to kill so we went and sat at a restaurant/pub and waited. Some drank, some talked, I decided to take pictures. I'm glad that I did because I managed to get a few nice shots there. You can check them out, along with other pictures from the trip, in my gallery
I got a chance to play with the Pentax K10D and I gotta say it was pretty cool. The autofocus was insanely fast, especially when compared to my DS. It seems to take nice pictures and they had some demo prints that showed how accurate the auto-color balance and image processing was. They also had a set that showed a very crisp low-light exposure and claimed that it was due to the anti-shake technology. I know enough not to read too deeply into any company's marketing ploys which is why I'll wait for detailed reviews to surface before getting too excited.
Another interesting find... Bibble Pro, A Raw conversion software package that seems really slick and has some pretty cool noise reduction and dynamic range recoverability features. The presenter was touting that one could save many otherwise busted shots with these two features. I am skeptical, as usual, but I was very intrigued and will be trying this software out. They have a free fully functioning (for two weeks) demo.. and best of all... IT RUNS ON LINUX!!!!!!!! :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) (As well as windows and Mac OS X).
There were lots of other software companies, I was not too interested in them. Lots of companies that do prints over the internet and lots of people trying to sell massive printers that look more like plotters.
After the expo we walked from the Javits Center to central park. We walked around central park and took pictures and then walked to 60th and 5th which is where our bus was picking us up. We ate at some deli around there for lunch/dinner. Tiff had a #205, ham, cheese and sun dried tomatoes on 7-grain bread. I has a #208, a BLT/Turkey sandwich with herb mayo on 7-grain bread.
After dinner we still had about an hour to kill so we went and sat at a restaurant/pub and waited. Some drank, some talked, I decided to take pictures. I'm glad that I did because I managed to get a few nice shots there. You can check them out, along with other pictures from the trip, in my gallery
Photo club competition 11/03/2006
Interested in the latest photo club competition results? Heres the link :) I had one photo place 3rd and the other two received honorable mention.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Not much to report :-/
Life has been boring the last few days, but the Photo Plus expo is coming up!! I'll get a chance to see the K10D and maybe even take some pictures in NYC.
Also, thanks to a cool (but very poor quality scan) PDF I found by googling "Tinker Tubes" I found some great plans for building pro quality lighting equipment out of PVC pipe!! This is cool because I don't believe in paying $600 for some light stand and a sheet of semi-transparent material. Tom and I may be building one or two items from this PDF some time soon... time, money and tools permitting :)
IN OTHER NEWS... the Avalanche have won 2 in a row, they beat Columbus tonight 4-2 with Joe Sakic picking up a goal and Hejduk with an assist!! They still only have 12 points and are 2nd to last in their division :( 15th in the leage overall, just as middle of the road as you can get.
Also, thanks to a cool (but very poor quality scan) PDF I found by googling "Tinker Tubes" I found some great plans for building pro quality lighting equipment out of PVC pipe!! This is cool because I don't believe in paying $600 for some light stand and a sheet of semi-transparent material. Tom and I may be building one or two items from this PDF some time soon... time, money and tools permitting :)
IN OTHER NEWS... the Avalanche have won 2 in a row, they beat Columbus tonight 4-2 with Joe Sakic picking up a goal and Hejduk with an assist!! They still only have 12 points and are 2nd to last in their division :( 15th in the leage overall, just as middle of the road as you can get.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Trip to Roberson Museum
We went to the museum for the first time today... it was free since we are museum members. We had to get a membership to join photo club ;). They had some cool stuff there but the coolest gallery was the first one we saw, the one with the cool people statues made out of scrap metal. We also saw a planetarium show which features no planets, only stars. :)
Link to gallery.
Link to gallery.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Here is the kitty's super gaint leg cast. Despite the fact that it does hamper her walking ability and she doesnt really step on that foot she STILL manages to get around quite well. She even manages to jump up onto the couch and bed and other places. She can get down too :)
The top story is our apartment, as you can see, Tiff left the light on all day :-/. Tera fell from the top of the railing all the way down to the pavement.... all the way down... It looks like its about a 25-30 foot fall. Poor kitty :(
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Kitty is home!!!!!!
My kitty is home!!!!! YYAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!! :-D We have to watch for swelling and she has a very large cast/splint on her hind leg but she is home!! We brought her home around 6:30, she ate some food, walked around the house for a bit, drank some water and then found a comfy spot on the couch and went to sleep. She seems to be able to move around and jump up onto things ok with only three working legs so I'm not too worried about her anymore. She can even climb into her litter box if we take the top off of it.
Maybe tomorrow I'll post a picture of her giant splint. Nite nite! :-)
Maybe tomorrow I'll post a picture of her giant splint. Nite nite! :-)
Monday, October 23, 2006
Kitty and Ipod Update
Well, Kitty is still at the doctors :( They were concerned with some swelling in her broken foot so they took the splint off and will wait for it to unswell before they put the splint back on. Hopefully they can have her all ready to go for tomorrow :) We miss our kitty!!
My Ipod came today. Had I not been at the vet I would have had it on Saturday. From Monday (got prepaid shipping container) to Saturday (attempted replacement Ipod delivery)!! Thats an INCREDIBLE TURN AROUND TIME!! Best part about it... It didn't cost me a single cent.
My Ipod came today. Had I not been at the vet I would have had it on Saturday. From Monday (got prepaid shipping container) to Saturday (attempted replacement Ipod delivery)!! Thats an INCREDIBLE TURN AROUND TIME!! Best part about it... It didn't cost me a single cent.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Photo Club Competition 10/20/2006
I entered three of my photos into the Roberson photo club competition at last night's meeting. Click the link to go to my Picassa gallery and find out how they did :)
The kitty is broked! :(
Our kitty decided to either jump, fall ,or get pushed off our balcony yesterday :(
I'm not 100% sure how it happened but it all started when I let both Tera and Nibbles out on the balcony (like I always do). Later I went and checked on them and I could only find Nibbles... so I went inside and looked around and couldn't find Tera. I went back out on to the porch and called to Tera and I hear "MEEEOOOOOOOWW" so I look down towards the sound of the meow and there are two little eyes starting up at me from underneath a car parked in the driveway. I ran down and got her and sure enough... her foot was clearly broken :-`(. After finding a vet that was opening soon (this happened at about 6:30 am) and finding a way to get to my car that was in the shop for repairs (thanks to Tom DeForest from IBM for helping with this), I brought her in for repair.
She fractured all three of the bones in the end of her left hind foot and will need to keep a splint on it for 4-6 weeks according to the vet. She stayed the night last night and they want to keep here over the weekend to keep an eye on some swelling that has developed in her foot. We should have her back Monday morning.... I cringe to think what I'm going to be charged for this :(
I did go and visit Tera today!! She was extremely happy to see me and she purred more than she has in a very long time :-) She cuddled right up to my arm and went to sleep. I stayed with her for about 2 1/2 hours and then the vet closed and kicked me out. She needed to eat anyways and I interrupted her lunch so its probably best that I had to leave anyway.
I'm not 100% sure how it happened but it all started when I let both Tera and Nibbles out on the balcony (like I always do). Later I went and checked on them and I could only find Nibbles... so I went inside and looked around and couldn't find Tera. I went back out on to the porch and called to Tera and I hear "MEEEOOOOOOOWW" so I look down towards the sound of the meow and there are two little eyes starting up at me from underneath a car parked in the driveway. I ran down and got her and sure enough... her foot was clearly broken :-`(. After finding a vet that was opening soon (this happened at about 6:30 am) and finding a way to get to my car that was in the shop for repairs (thanks to Tom DeForest from IBM for helping with this), I brought her in for repair.
She fractured all three of the bones in the end of her left hind foot and will need to keep a splint on it for 4-6 weeks according to the vet. She stayed the night last night and they want to keep here over the weekend to keep an eye on some swelling that has developed in her foot. We should have her back Monday morning.... I cringe to think what I'm going to be charged for this :(
I did go and visit Tera today!! She was extremely happy to see me and she purred more than she has in a very long time :-) She cuddled right up to my arm and went to sleep. I stayed with her for about 2 1/2 hours and then the vet closed and kicked me out. She needed to eat anyways and I interrupted her lunch so its probably best that I had to leave anyway.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Bad Ipod = :-( , Awesome service = :-)
My Ipod was officially declared FUBAR on Sunday :-/. It turns on and acts like it wants to play music but then decides to pretend its a CD player with a scratched disc in it... skip skip skip... :) I've traced the problem to faulty flash storage thanks to Linux reporting I/O errors reading/writing to the Ipod when I try to mount it and copy new music to it via GtkPod.
Anyways, being only 4-5 months old my Ipod is STILL under warranty so a quick visit to Apple's website confirmed a free replacement. Two web forms, a serial number entry page and a service agreement click-through later I have an e-mail from Apple telling me to patiently wait for a free shipping container in which to send my Ipod. It arrived in less than 48 hours!!! I received a small simple box that contained some foam, some strips of packing tape and an instruction sheet. The sheet advises the user to place the Ipod between the pieces of foam, close and seal the box and drop off at the nearest DHL shipping center. It could not be simpler!! No searching for packing materials, no "You must have sure to pack the unit around all sides with no less than 2" of foam/packing peanuts else lose your warranty!!". Best of all, I *THINK* the mailer they sent is prepaid :) How cool would that be??
I'll be sure to post the rest of the experience as soon as I get my Ipod back. I'm going to drop it off
tomorrow at DHL , so lets see how long it takes to get it back. :)
Anyways, being only 4-5 months old my Ipod is STILL under warranty so a quick visit to Apple's website confirmed a free replacement. Two web forms, a serial number entry page and a service agreement click-through later I have an e-mail from Apple telling me to patiently wait for a free shipping container in which to send my Ipod. It arrived in less than 48 hours!!! I received a small simple box that contained some foam, some strips of packing tape and an instruction sheet. The sheet advises the user to place the Ipod between the pieces of foam, close and seal the box and drop off at the nearest DHL shipping center. It could not be simpler!! No searching for packing materials, no "You must have sure to pack the unit around all sides with no less than 2" of foam/packing peanuts else lose your warranty!!". Best of all, I *THINK* the mailer they sent is prepaid :) How cool would that be??
I'll be sure to post the rest of the experience as soon as I get my Ipod back. I'm going to drop it off
tomorrow at DHL , so lets see how long it takes to get it back. :)
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Unreal Tournament 2007
I can't wait for this game!!!!! Just look at some of these screenshots!
www.planetunreal.com/images.asp?/envy/ingame4.jpg
www.planetunreal.com/images.asp?/envy/ingame4.jpg
www.planetunreal.com/images.asp?/envy/ingame4.jpg
If you want to see more visit www.planetunreal.com. Not only are the graphics awesome but the game play is supposed to be top notch too. The Assault game type is being replaced with a new game type code named "Conquest" which is LIKE Assault but with many more objectives, some of which are optional and a promise of a less linear structure to the game. Also, the conquest maps can be as large as three Onslaught maps (which are very large to begin with) !! So what we'll see here is a whole bunch of mini-games within the main game. Also, watch for community created addons that use the Conquest game type to create loads of entirely different complete games all together!!! Released late 2006 or early 2007.... I'll be preordering this one!
www.planetunreal.com/images.asp?/envy/ingame4.jpg
www.planetunreal.com/images.asp?/envy/ingame4.jpg
www.planetunreal.com/images.asp?/envy/ingame4.jpg
If you want to see more visit www.planetunreal.com. Not only are the graphics awesome but the game play is supposed to be top notch too. The Assault game type is being replaced with a new game type code named "Conquest" which is LIKE Assault but with many more objectives, some of which are optional and a promise of a less linear structure to the game. Also, the conquest maps can be as large as three Onslaught maps (which are very large to begin with) !! So what we'll see here is a whole bunch of mini-games within the main game. Also, watch for community created addons that use the Conquest game type to create loads of entirely different complete games all together!!! Released late 2006 or early 2007.... I'll be preordering this one!
Binghamton Senators Hockey Game
Last nights hockey game was pretty fun :) We ended up losing 3-2 but the game was pretty exciting especially towards the end as we were down by 2 until the last 2 minutes of the game when we scored. Being only 1 point down, the Sens tried really hard to tie the game up before the end of regulation but to no avail :(
Heres a link to my Picasa gallery... just click the picture :)
Heres a link to my Picasa gallery... just click the picture :)
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Binghamton Senators! :-P
Hockey season has officially started and the Colorado Avalanche are off to an okay start grabbing 4 points in three games. Meanwhile Minnesota and Buffalo are both undefeated after 4 games. Hopefully we can grab two more points in tonight's game against Edmonton which won't be televised in the Binghamton area. :(
In other news I'm going to a B-Sens game tonight! Pictures are sure to follow!!
In other news I'm going to a B-Sens game tonight! Pictures are sure to follow!!
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